‘Don’t know if it was the right call or not’- ex England captain on Jones axing
Former England captain Chris Robshaw is the latest player to weigh in with his view on Eddie Jones’ sacking.
The ex flanker played under Jones for three years before being dropped in 2018, and won two Six Nations titles in that time. Unlike his former back row teammate James Haskell, who made his views on the sacking quite clear recently, Robshaw looked at it from both sides when on BT Sport this week.
“I wouldn’t say I was surprised,” he said. “I don’t know if it was the right call or not. With Eddie you look at what he’s done at World Cups in the past. I know when he was with South Africa he was a consultant and won, and then he’s gone to two finals and he did what he did with Japan as well. And he always said ‘judge me on that’ but I think the media turned on him. You look at that last game against South Africa where they didn’t play particularly well, the boos echoing, and that’s such a horrible feeling. Being on the pitch and you have those boos, there’s no escape from it. You can’t hide away from it.
“And I think from an RFU point of view, they think ‘look, in the Six Nations we have to go away to Dublin, we have to play France, they are going to be two very tough games. Are we going to be in this position again in three months time? Whereas if we get someone else in, they’ve got a new opportunity, new team, they’ve got a tournament at least before the World Cup.’ But with a new coach coming in – and again, devastated for Eddie, he was a good man to me – it gives other players a chance to put their hand up and say ‘I potentially wasn’t in Eddie’s reckoning or he didn’t like me for whatever reason,’ now there’s a new coach coming in – whoever that’s going to be – and we might see a new team and a new way of playing.”
“I wouldn’t say I was surprised, I don’t know if it was the right call or not.
“Devastated for Eddie, he was a good man to me.”
🌹 Former England captain @ChrisRobshaw comments on the dismissal of Eddie Jones. pic.twitter.com/s7TuYslI5U
— Rugby on BT Sport (@btsportrugby) December 10, 2022
